what do you parents do about the child seat?

[///PAS]

any recommendations? It's time to move up to the next seat after infant carriers. I can't seem to locate any anchors for a teather strap. Is this something the stealer needs to install? The owner's manual references as many as 6 possible anchor sites, 3 at the base of the bach seat and 3 on the rear deck.

I guess in a round about way I'm asking all you with kids and M's...what did you do?

Thanks in advance.

Moderators: I posted here because I don't know if this situation is unique to M3's or not.

[madsedan]

My 2 year old daughter has her child seat mounted in the middle of the backseat in my 95 M3. I think my wife used the center lap belt to hold the seat down and then ran the tether strap through the split in the fold down seats and clipped it to the metal underside of the rear package shelf (near where the cd changer would mount). BMW sells a tether kit that has several pieces that can be mounted to the topside of the rear package shelf between the rear speakers, but if you have fold down rear seats like me you don't need it.

[WJones]

I use the middle seatbelt. In later cars this is replaced with the LATCH system. You can retro-fit an anchor for the top tether to the rear package shelf. Dealers were given an info bulletin on this. My dealer had the parts in stock. You have to drill through the package shelf to mount to anchor into the plate beneath it.

[umnitza]

HEY! I have just completed (well two months ago) a tether kit install for my M3 The 98 that I have has a pre-threaded opening for this.

You only need the "support" anchor, bolt, and cap. I didn't do it "to spec" but it works well - I yanked on it as hard as I could and it didn't even budge

A) yes you drill through the package shelf
B) you can get the rest of the parts from Home Depot (with the exception of the bracket)
C) it takes 20 minutes at the most to do

[umnitza]

Here's the link: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...ghlight=tether

I still have to take pictures (but I'm ashamed, mine's not the cleanest install)

[dmw]

I may be wrong, but I think the dealer is obligated to install/retrofit one tether/anchor in older cars that do not come with one. I could be wrong, but that is what I heard.

As an added benefit, I have also heard that you can take out the anchor (for the middle seat) and use it to mount a video camera for the track.

[umnitza]

I think you're "wrong" in the sense that I've never encountered a SINGLE dealer out here willing to do it for free. It's always 2 hours minimum labor charge:

Just do it yourself, it takes less time to do it than to talk about it here

[WJones]

I thought poking and drilling through the shelf was a major PITA. It was, however, easier than paying the dealer 2hrs * $72/hr plus tax.

[umnitza]

you just have to have a good drill
I used two different techniques - one was to use a smaller diameter drill bit to "mark" the location from the bottom, then I drilled from the top using a self-tapping screw using a rachet.
done.

[///PAS]

thanks for all the replies and insight. Thanks also to Papa Matt for posting the link to the very thread that I was looking for. I may fiddle with this today between pollish and wax coats:

Vacation week is a good time to get this stuff done, especially if you already live at the beach

[M3 Pete]

Originally posted by madsedan
BMW sells a tether kit that has several pieces that can be mounted to the topside of the rear package shelf between the rear speakers,

hmmm, usually Nick Alexander is pretty good about parts stuff, but they told me last week that there is no such thing as a tether kit. Since I have the split back seat I may not need it, but if so I'll have to slap those guys around. At least I got a parts list from the other thread.

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...ghlight=tether

[GatorM]

Just curious...why bother with the tether? It might add some stability, but the belt holds the seat just fine. I've had two kids' seats in the back of my convertible (no tethers anywhere!) and it didn't worry me a bit. The kids love the top down, too...

[BGM3]

Have you guys seen the Recaro baby seat? I'm getting that for my baby when the time comes. It's cool!

[sped here]

I have an infant carrier for my 6 week old and a booster for my 3yr old... I use the seat belts and pass the tether through into the trunk (via fold-down rears). I drilled and mounted anchors in the trunk floor just behind the rear seat.

[M3 Pete]

Originally posted by BGM3
Have you guys seen the Recaro baby seat? I'm getting that for my baby when the time comes. It's cool!

I have not seen that yet, but if you look at all the high-back baby seats out there, they look just like Recaros. Now if I could only get an adult size for teh same price ....

[edit] just checked out the Recaro site, pretty cool. But the Recaro child seat looks less like a recaro seat than a lot of the high back seats made by others ... But that Sportline would look pretty hot in my estoril with black leather.

[///PAS]

it keeps the seat stable even though the belt actually holds it to the seat. I also went in to the trunk and hooked my tether right to the frame under the rear deck. It is so tight now, I will need to actually unhook the tether from the seat to get it out